I am almost 62 years old and have been getting harassed by strangers in public since I was about 11. It has included men exposing their genitals, many times, as well as being spoken to by strangers and pressured to engage in conversation, yelling, whistling, and name-calling and insults if I didn’t respond. Most of these things have happened routinely to my daughters as well. We have been “ogled” in our cars at red lights by other drivers, been followed and had comments made about our various body parts, even while pregnant and in the presence of small children.
How sad that reaching adolescence means getting harassed and that old age is looked forward to so it will stop.
No place is safe, no place is comfortable. It changes who we are.
I have never understood why this is tolerated and not considered a crime, particularly a hate crime. When it was directed at one race by another, it is a hate crime. Why isn’t it a hate crime when it’s directed toward one gender by another??? All my life, I have spoken out about this and been treated like I was being ridiculous; thank you for taking this seriously. I am a psychotherapist and I can tell you it really affects females in very harmful ways.
– LG
Location: DC, Montgomery County, and PG County, in school, on the street, in public transportation, in stores, parking lots, my own car by other drivers, everywhere.
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Danielle says
God bless you. I agree that these men make life very unpleasant xx
Claire says
So very true, thank you for this post. I too have long been very frustrated and mystified by the lack of support and understanding of this very and all too common serious issue of our freedom to get from A to B without being harassed and degraded in a free country (I live in Paris). I often feel dismissed by people when I try to explain the suffering this causes and my frustration that not enough is being done about it. I have endured 18 years of insults, derogatory comments, unwanted or aggressive attention, even physical attacks by complete strangers on safe streets and public transport. I am a huge fan of this website, where we can be heard. Thank you for your post and for pointing this out.